I'm pretty sure the neck received was a 6 string neck and 1 truss rod is NOT enough to hold that string tension.
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Is Carvin Going Downhill?
- Thread starter tobiasaurusrex
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The only Carvin I ever played was a Bunny Brunel signature. It sounded great and played well but the neck pocket had a HUGE gap around the neck, I could fit two quarters side by side in there. I hadn't seen such bad construction from 80$ ibanez starter pack basses, much less something they were asking 500$ (used) for. This was in 03' and I have never seen anything new from them, fwiw.
eddododo said:
I have seen many basses with carbon fiber laminated necks. Its basicly like having a painted neck
I should be taking possesion of my second carvin soon. I could have bought a lot of different basses, but I went with carvin.
Quasi-custom build. Made in the USA. Fair price. Excellent (and I mean EXCELLENT) craftmanship.
The OP's experience is questionable, if not exagerrated or just atypical.
Quasi-custom build. Made in the USA. Fair price. Excellent (and I mean EXCELLENT) craftmanship.
The OP's experience is questionable, if not exagerrated or just atypical.
I have lots of Carvin gear in my lifetime and it is all still performing just as well as when purchased. I have however heard some tales of difficulties in dealing with customer support. My brother for example ordered a guitar from their list of guitars in stock and was amped wowing for it. Aft 5 weeks went by, he called to see what the hold up was and they said that it had sold and been sent to the purchaser, which was not my brother. They had information on where it went and the name of the purchaser, both of which, obviously, was someone else. They said they didn't know what to tell him and after about two more months he got a refund from them. Ptty crappy IMO, but this was about 10 years ago and I have dealt with them several times since then and always had pleasant results. I have. B5 that is my main 5 string and that's leaving a ZON Sonus in the case. I have been using the BX1200 Bass amp since it came out and LOVE it. I have used it for every gig since the day I got it and it has never once let me down in any way. Before that I was using and Ampeg SVT6PRO. All of my PA is Carvin, aside from SM58s and vocal effects. I wouldn't hesitate from buying anything Carvin
Yeah, the B50 is what I ordered. I think it might be possible that any through-neck design might have issues, and I like bolt-on sound anyway. Plus, I like the nice, wide neck (full 19mm)
I think it's utterly ridiculous that so many people are piling on and criticizing the OP.
Yeah the bass setup can change during shipping but there are still a lot of other problems he listed. Why don't you guys stop being overly defensive for a moment (ok it's obvious some of you like your carvins, great) and realize his perspective. He didn't get what he asked for in ordering a custom bass (and two different kinds of strings on the bass?? really???) and Carvin talked smack about their own pickups. If I were in the OP's position, I would be doubting Carvin right now as well and asking some questions.
Yeah there's always a possibility it's a "troll post" but give him the benefit of the doubt for a minute. What he said is not too far-fetched at all. Not every negative experience is a troll post.
Sometimes this forum is pathetic with all the bandwagoning.
Yeah the bass setup can change during shipping but there are still a lot of other problems he listed. Why don't you guys stop being overly defensive for a moment (ok it's obvious some of you like your carvins, great) and realize his perspective. He didn't get what he asked for in ordering a custom bass (and two different kinds of strings on the bass?? really???) and Carvin talked smack about their own pickups. If I were in the OP's position, I would be doubting Carvin right now as well and asking some questions.
Yeah there's always a possibility it's a "troll post" but give him the benefit of the doubt for a minute. What he said is not too far-fetched at all. Not every negative experience is a troll post.
Sometimes this forum is pathetic with all the bandwagoning.
That would depend on the bass, the strings and the trussrod. There are plenty of single trussrod sixers out there that work just fine... can't say I recall seeing stability issues with any of the Carvin sixes I've played.
But this thread did turn out as I expected. Gotta love fans.
Asking questions is cool. The derision is something else. Just saying.
I tend to agree, to some extent...this forum is famous for the fan-boyism, and massive kool-aid drinking...but to be fair, Carvin did not always have such a good reputation as it does now. Carvin used to be the king of "meh" comments.....but since the release of the SB series, has started to really cause people to take a second look.
I bought my 6 string neck-trough (LB76) for $500 bucks from the Carvin store. It had been there a while, and was a floor model. While I admit the neck does take some tweaking if you have not played it in a while (and I mean months) but the tone is THERE!
I find it unlikely that ANY Bunny Brunel signature bass has had a bad neck pocket, as they are neck through designs. In fact, I find it unlikely that any Bunny Brunel bass has a neck pocket at all.
Really? All the Bunny Brunels I've seen are neck throughs...kinda hard to have a neck pocket in a neckthrough.
Damn...you beat me to it handyman!
It's a dual-action truss rod. Not the same as 2 truss rods. I'm assuming that Carvin dropped the graphite reinforcement rods because they felt that they weren't needed. My 92 LB75 has no reinforcement rods and I adjust the neck slightly a couple of times a year when there are major temperature changes (North East). The addition of a tiny C string isn't going to add an appreciable amount of tension to the neck IMO.
Regarding the mismatched string issue, a set of strings with a taperwound B and perhaps E is not unusual. you will not find 6 taperwound strings in a set. At least I have never seen one.
Like others I don't understand why the OP didn't just return the bass if he was so unhappy with it.
Rick B.
"The neck is thin, and they only put one truss rod in it. (I know they don't use the graphite rods anymore.) The lone rod can not compensate for a proper set up."
Yup thats my experience with the one I had for awhile. Neck to weak for good near dead straight set up on a fiver.
Yup thats my experience with the one I had for awhile. Neck to weak for good near dead straight set up on a fiver.
I have an early 90's Carvin LB75 (five stringer) that I bought new and the neck is as stable as the Rock of Gibraltar. I rarely have to tweak it at all...maybe two or three times since I've owned it. I also own a fretless LB75 that is a few years newer and I almost never have to touch the setup on that either....on the other hand, I have a bevy of Fenders, some MIA, and I am always screwing with those necks.
I don't have a dog in the Carvin fight. But the original post sounds a tad confusing. The talk of "home built" followed by seemingly obvious misunderstandings about basic setup followed by "two different sets of strings" (just because the B is tapercore?) followed by talk of gluing carbon fiber to the back of the neck to "fix it."?
Sounds like some fetching from afar going on there.
I think if the OP had answered a couple of basic questions at the outset that a great deal of this could have been avoided...
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